Luis Morales "The divine"

LUIS MORALES "The divine" (Badajoz, 1509 - Alcántara, 1586)
"Christ carrying the cross".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Work expertized by the historian Don José Gómez Frechina.
Presents restorations and plasticized back.
Measurements. 88 x 75 cm; 104 x 94 cm (frame).
In this canvas the author captures one of the most dramatic moments of the Way of the Cross, the moment in which Christ supports the weight of the cross. In this episode it is common to see Simon the Cyrenian helping Jesus to carry the cross, or Veronica offering him a cloth to wipe his face of blood and sweat. However, the author of this canvas dispenses with the monumental presence of these characters, and only sketches the profile of a male face, located in the lower left corner. This characteristic invites us to think that the author is not looking for more theological meaning than that of Christ's own suffering and voluntary sacrifice in favor of humanity. In fact, this supreme generosity is reinforced by Jesus' own gaze, which avoids ours, turning to one side. The figure is worked with an enormous naturalism, highlighting the expressiveness of the face and hands, and the tenebrist lighting used manages to provide a greater physical presence, a greater three-dimensionality and also intensity and effectiveness to the figure. These features, as well as the chromatic range used, are typical of the naturalistic baroque. The dramatic figure is outlined against a dark background, of dense darkness, as if emerging from the shadows, directly illuminated by a spotlight, theatrical and directed, which enters the image from the upper left corner and falls directly on the face and hands of the saint, leaving the rest of the figure enveloped in a nuanced penumbra.
Due to these characteristics, the work can be related to the painting of Luis Morales, known as El Divino, who developed an active artistic career that forced him to travel frequently to arrange commissions, carry them out or control their realization. In fact, this painting in particular has great similarities with other works by the artist, such as the one preserved in the Corpus Christi College (Valencia), for example. His technique was highly appreciated for the creation of very studied compositions, providing a very personal and novel style. He was praised by the treatise writer Palomino who nicknamed him the Divine, explaining that he called him the Divine, since all he painted were sacred things, and because he made heads of Christ with such great delicacy and subtlety in the hair, that the most curious in art makes one want to blow them to make them move, because it seems that they have the same subtlety as the natural ones. Many of his works were painted for family chapels or private oratories of people linked to the Sevillian elite and the bourgeoisie of Extremadura.